Wolff: Media mess? Who you gonna call?

Jan. 26, 2014
|

A woman holds a banner dispaying a portrait of the French President Francois Hollande with the phrase "Get out!" during a demonstration called by the Collective "Day of Wrath", supported among others by the conservative Printemps Francais ("French Spring") movement and the fundamentalist christian group Civitas, to protest against the French President's policy, on Jan. 26, 2014 in Paris. / Pierre Andrieu, AFP/Getty Images

by Michael Wolff, USA TODAY

by Michael Wolff, USA TODAY

The president of France, Francois Hollande, is among the most ridiculous figures of the last few weeks, caught having an affair with a woman who is not the first lady, a problem he seems to be addressing by proposing to eliminate the first lady job.

This may be a sign of the globalization of sexual norms - even the French must be correct in their relationships. But more likely it is a sign of the globalization of media behavior and rules.

Media has become like banking: It is an international business that is no longer contained by separate markets or local regulations. It, too, has a set of international standards and skills.

Perhaps the only person to rival the president of France for singular shamefacedness is the governor of New Jersey. If sexual carryings-on are not supposed to be notable in France, brazen political retribution is not supposed to be notable in New Jersey - but GOP Gov. Chris Christie's traffic cones have become an international story.

What both of these men have in common is an extraordinary lack of awareness about their own vulnerability - and in a way, that's exactly what they're being hung and mocked for. It is bizarre that they, and countless other politicians and celebrities caught in extremis, would not understand that they live in a transparent world. What are they thinking?

In this new age of vast media competition, in which a viral payoff is the only real payoff, the media premium is not only on uncovering malfeasance but of turning politicians into caricatures, and of creating a reality drama that is as much, or more, about comedy than morality.

A moral lapse may well be easier to overcome than becoming a figure of grand ridicule.

As a counterpoint, one might even argue that there is something quaint or refreshing or innocent about politicians who show up for work without thinking of the media implications of everything they do. Indeed, both the president of France and the governor of New Jersey have received a kind of sentimental bump in their respective pools.

But the real damage is long term, not just in the Google trail that will follow them but in the damage to their own sense of self. You don't readily recover from seeing yourself belittled in such a way. You're a very modern kind of road kill.

It's a failure not just of judgment, but of not understanding the game, and of not being skillful enough to enlist the people who do understand.

But who does understand?

Rather than some public people having mastered the right techniques and adapted to ever-changing sensibilities, might it be that every public person hovers on the edge of media mismanagement and catastrophe? Media rules are as onerous as banking rules, but where is the establishment that helps you navigate them?

Might this be a failure of the new order to yet make itself clear?

Media management is the most fundamental aspect of any politician's career, yet it is an area largely handled by the young, inexperienced and underpaid.

There is quite a curious misrepresentation of politicians employing skillful manipulators - the Karl Roves or James Carvilles - when, in fact, there is no clear talent pool or basic agreement on what makes a suitable media manager. Everybody's flying by the seat of their pants.

Even in the commercial world, it's unclear who you call. The default for dealing with viral crises or viral hopes is surprisingly often someone who knows someone or who has a talented son.

Media skills and understanding are a catchall that includes large public relations firms that more accurately work as marketing or advertising adjuncts; self-styled crisis managers too late on the scene; political operatives whose skill is to attack rather than defend or promote; fixers (lawyers, lobbyists, money guys) who arrange introductions to influential media people; and now, a new range of social-media proponents and filmmakers who make promises about viral video.

This is not a confidence-inspiring lineup for anybody who understands that they are going to live or die by their understanding of the rules, rituals and competitive landscape of the media world.

For many years, arguably right up until the modern age, the most sophisticated banking skills were available only by discreet word of mouth. Sophisticated bankers dealt only with people who knew they were sophisticated bankers, thereby preserving a closed circle of advantage. Likewise, there are a set of people, or at least always rumors of people, offering media at an extraordinary level and only to extraordinary people-President Hollande or Gov. Christie not among them.

Banking broke out. Starting in the 1980s, there became an open market in sophisticated financial advice, boutique investment banks for every financial problem and aspiration. Everybody knew the right bankers to hire. One can argue whether we are better or worse off for it but, nevertheless, it's a more inclusive and transparent world.

The mysteries of media, of how to adroitly play in this field, of mastery rather than mere instinct (not long ago, Christie's instincts would have been rated very highly), have yet to be propitiously or fairly retailed.

But the need is obvious and inevitable, the opportunity, irresistible. It is power and expertise waiting to be seized, for better or worse.